Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Stock Price

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $32.00 to $38.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on SLM. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLM currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.45.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SLM opened at $28.80 on Monday. SLM has a fifty-two week low of $19.39 and a fifty-two week high of $32.65. The stock has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.68.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SLM will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 19.62%.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of SLM stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. The trade was a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in SLM by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $158,342,000 after purchasing an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the third quarter valued at about $623,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the third quarter valued at about $3,250,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP raised its stake in SLM by 62.9% in the third quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 177,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,067,000 after buying an additional 68,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in SLM in the third quarter worth about $268,000. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLM Company Profile

SLM Corporation, through its subsidiaries, originates and services private education loans to students and their families to finance the cost of their education in the United States. It is also involved in the provision of retail deposit accounts, including certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and high-yield savings accounts; and interest-bearing omnibus accounts.